Hey there everyone!  This is a new story called Time Is Of The Essence.  Don’t worry, I’m still working on Sunset, too.  Anyways, here’s the background: it’s four years after New Snow ends.  So the Negaverse has been sealed for four years and the Senshi have not transformed since then as they have not been needed... until now.  Everyone is in college now at Tokyo University and that’s all I’m going to tell because if I say anymore then I’ll just be telling the whole story and you wouldn’t have to read it.  Please tell me what you think when you’re done reading, I would love to hear from you! 
Disclaimers: I don’t own Sailor Moon or any of the related characters... that’s only in my dreams.  So blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda... you get the picture. 
“A stitch in time saves nine.” - I don’t know exactly what it means, but I’m using phrases like this for the titles of my chapters. 
Time Is Of The Essence by Chichiri 
Chapter 1 - A Stitch in Time 

An icy wind blew through the snow-covered streets of Tokyo, causing Usagi to pull her jacket closer around her body.  Her breath made little clouds on the air in front of her.  She walked up the steps and into the main hall of Tokyo University.  She made her way through the halls to her locker where she put away her jacket and scarf and took out her books.  She put the books into her backpack and then went back through the halls to her first period English class. 
     “Hi Usagi-chan!” Minako called as she entered the classroom behind Usagi. 
     “Hi Mina-chan!” Usagi smiled. 
     “It’s finally the last day of school before winter break,” Minako sighed happily.  “I thought it would never get here.  Now we get three weeks off!  Today is going to be so much fun!  I’m done with my finals, how about you?” 
     “No,” Usagi replied.  “I still have a chemistry final.” 
     “Ugh.”  Minako made a face.  “Well, you’ll ace it for sure!  You are at the top of the class after all.  I’m so glad I’m not taking chemistry, though, I would fail for sure.” 
     The bell rang, so Usagi and Minako had to sit down.  After taking role and giving the class their winter reading assignment, the teacher decided to give the class a free period. 
     “See?  I knew the teacher wouldn’t try to make us do something today,” Minako said as she approached Usagi again. 
     “So how are things with you and Kunzite?” Usagi asked. 
     “Oh!  Great!” Minako exclaimed.  “He’s so sweet!  I just love him so much!  How about you and Mamoru?” 
     “Wonderful as ever!” Usagi smiled. 
     “Oh my gosh!  You will not believe what I heard today!” Minako said, enthusiastically launching into one of her romance reports. 
     Usagi suppressed a giggle at Minako’s enthusiasm for gossip.  She half-listened to Minako babbling on about someone they didn’t even know getting hooked up with a ‘really-cute-guy,-but-not-as-cute-as-my-Kunzite...’, but then her attention was caught by a special report on the TV that someone had turned on. 
     “While Tokyo is peacefully covered in a blanket of snow, halfway across the globe, things are not so peaceful,” the reporter said.  Usagi missed the next sentence when a girl across the room shrieked with laughter at something her friend had said.  “...England.  The lady claims that her name is Lady Catherine Harlow, one of the country’s most famous noblewomen from the 19th century.  But Lady Catherine died at the turn of the century and no one knows the true identity of this woman.  She was found wandering the streets of London in traditional 19th century clothing for a noble family and she bears a striking resemblance to photographs of Lady Catherine.  She was at first thought to be someone mentally ill, but just a week after her appearance in London, someone was found in Florence claiming to be --”  The report was cut short when someone changed the channel.  Usagi glared at the person, then returned her attention to Minako, pushing the report to the back of her mind. 
     “...and I have a hunch that Ami and Zoi are finally going out officially,” Minako was saying.  “Those two are so shy!  And of course Rei and Jade had another argument.  They argue about the stupidest things, you know.  We certainly have interesting friends, don’t we?  I wonder if we would have met if it weren’t for our destinies?  Do you think we would have been friends?  Oh well, I’m just glad that we are friends, even though we do have disagreements sometimes, but that’s normal among friends, right?  So it all works out, and we have finally gotten the chance to be normal, like we were before everything that happened, you know?” 
     Usagi wondered briefly how Minako had gotten onto the subject of romance among their friends from talking about someone who they didn’t even know getting a date, but then she remembered that Minako always rambled.  And somehow she always found a way to bring up the subject of romance, but then she was the Senshi of Love. 
     “It’s hard to believe it’s been four years already, isn’t it?” Usagi remembered.  “It seems like just yesterday.  And now we’re in college.” 
     “Huh?  Oh, that was a random subject change!” Minako laughed.  “But it does seem like just yesterday that we awoke in the snow and were given a new beginning.” 
     Four years ago, Usagi had finally defeated the Negaverse with the help of the other eight Senshi, the Generals, and Mamoru.  The Negaverse had been sealed off with the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal.  After that, no more evil had appeared.  The Sailor Senshi were no longer needed and they had been able to begin normal lives again.  Usagi had done a complete turn-around in school and easily made it to the top of her class, tying with Ami.  Now, they were halfway through their first year at Tokyo University.  Mamoru was two years ahead of them with Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite. 
     “At least this time everyone had all of their memories still.  It would have been awful to go through that again!” Minako laughed. 
     “Yeah,” Usagi agreed. 
     The bell rang signaling the end of class and everyone rushed out the door as the teacher told them to have a nice winter break and not to forget about their reading assignment.  “See you at lunch Mina-chan!” Usagi called as she headed for her chemistry class. 
     “Bye Usagi-chan!  Good luck on your chem final!”  Minako waved. 
     Usagi walked to the chemistry lab and dropped her stuff off before going to visit Mamoru during the brief break between classes.  Mamoru’s second period was an advanced physics class that was in a lab just down the hall from Usagi’s chemistry lab.  When Usagi got to the physics lab, Mamoru wasn’t there, so she went over to Zoisite, who was also in the class. 
     “Hi, Zoi!” Usagi greeted him.  “Have you seen Mamoru?” 
     “Hi, Usagi,” Zoisite replied.  “I haven’t seen Mamoru since this morning, I’m sorry.” 
     “That’s okay,” Usagi said.  She frowned when the five minute bell rang and Mamoru still hadn’t arrived.  She said goodbye to Zoisite and then made her way back to the chemistry lab. 
     “Hi Ami-chan!” Usagi said as she entered the lab. 
     “Hi Usagi-chan,” Ami said.  “Ready for the final?” 
     “As ready as you are,” Usagi replied with a smile. 
     “Great,” Ami said, returning the smile. 
     They took their seats just as the bell rang and the teacher launched into a brief explanation of the chemicals they would be using in their final experiment today.  Ami and Usagi were the first to finish the experiment, so they went into the teacher’s office to help him organize the chemicals.  They were always helping their teacher, since they always finished early.  Today the teacher had asked them to put new labels on all the chemical bottles as the old ones were getting hard to read.  Ami and Usagi began working while the teacher went back into the lab to watch the students work. 
     Toward the end of the period, Ami and Usagi suddenly felt dizzy as a wave of air that felt unnaturally heavy swept over them.  They looked at each other.  “Did you feel that?” Usagi asked. 
     “Yes,” Ami replied seriously.  “There was a definite condensation of unnaturally massive molecules in the atmosphere causing a temporary imbalance in the amount of atmospheric pressure.” 
     “Ami-chan, even I sometimes have trouble understanding you,” Usagi sighed.  Ami blushed slightly and Usagi continued, “You meant that there was a sudden build-up of seemingly heavier air particles, right?” 
     Ami nodded.  “That’s right.  I don’t like how it felt.  I’ll run some programs on my computer at lunch to see if I can determine what caused it.” 
     “That’s a good idea,” Usagi agreed.  “Let’s go now.  I’m sure the sensei will let us go early.” 

A few minutes later, Usagi and Ami were walking down the streets of Tokyo to the apartment building where they lived.  Along the way, it began to snow lightly.  They entered the apartment building and went up the stairs and down the hall to the apartment that Ami and Makoto shared. 
     Usagi and Minako shared an apartment across the hall and Rei had her own smaller apartment further down the hall since she sometimes had a hot temper.  Most of the time they gathered in one of the apartments, so they pretty much shared them all. 
     Ami unlocked the door and went over to her computer and turned it on.  Usagi turned on the TV, hoping for another special report, then went into the kitchen to make some lunch.  Ami began typing in commands to run the various programs on her computer.  Usagi found some leftover soup that Makoto had made and put it in a pot on the stove to heat.  Then Usagi returned to the TV and flipped through the channels until she found a midday news broadcast.  Usagi poured the hot soup into mugs and gave one to Ami before sitting down in front of the TV.  Finally the report she was watching for came on. 
     “Last week, a woman claiming to be Lady Catherine Harlow was found wandering the streets of London.  Yesterday, in Florence, Italy, a man was found claiming to be Giovanni Falcone, a prestigious political leader of the Renaissance era.  Scientists were intrigued and have started performing DNA tests on these two historical figures and those results are expected later today.  But just a short while ago, these historical happenings struck closer to home when a young girl was found wandering the streets of Tokyo.  The odd thing about this appearance is that she says she is Princess Serenity, a character from a fairy tale about a civilization on the Moon.  For now she has been taken to the hospital and is being examined; doctors think the three year old girl may suffer from amnesia.  On the other side of town...”  Usagi turned off the TV and stood shaking for a moment.  Her face had gone white when she saw the picture of her younger Silver Millennium self on the screen.  She moved slowly to Ami’s side. 
     “Ami-chan, have you found anything?” Usagi asked in a shaky voice. 
     “No, nothing conclusive, anyway,” Ami replied.  “Whatever caused the condensation of-- um, I mean whatever caused the build-up of heavy air particles seems to have disappeared.  I do have one more thing that I’m checking out based on some instinct deep inside me.”  She looked up at Usagi’s pale face and asked, “What’s wrong?  You look as though you’ve just seen a ghost!” 
     “Ami-chan, I did,” Usagi said.  “Have you heard about Lady Catherine and the other person from history who have turned up lately?” 
     “Yes, why?” Ami asked. 
     “Earlier today a three year old girl appeared here in Tokyo,” Usagi explained.  “She looks just like I did when I was that age in the Silver Millennium... and she says she is Princess Serenity.” 
     “What!” Ami fairly shouted. 
     “I know,” Usagi agreed.  “I think the heavy air we felt earlier was due to--” 
     “A time portal!” Ami and Usagi said at the same time.  Ami added, “Of course!  That’s what I’m checking on my computer right now.”  She glanced at the screen, then reported, “Yes, what we felt today definitely seems to indicate a time portal.” 
     “I believe these people truly are the historical figures they say they are and that they came here through time portals,” Usagi went on.  “We have to contact Sailor Pluto now and find out what’s going on.” 
     “Definitely,” Ami replied.  “I’ll go get my communicator.”  Ami left the room and returned a moment later with her communicator.  She pressed the call button with Pluto’s symbol on it and waited.  There was no response.  “That’s odd,” Ami said.  “It doesn’t appear to be working.  It’s highly unlikely that it would stop working after four years.  I’ll try again.”  There was still no response.  “I’ll try yours, go and get yours.”  This time there was an instant response. 
     Usagi returned a few moments later with her communicator and her transformation crystal.  “Ami-chan, get your transformation pen,” Usagi commanded.  Ami did as she was told.  “We won’t call the others yet.  This is just a quick trip.  We’re going to pay a visit to Sailor Pluto.  Moon Crystal Power!” 
     “Mercury Star Power!” 
     Usagi and Ami joined hands and then teleported to the Time Gates.  No one was there.  “Setsuna-san?” Usagi called.  “Sailor Pluto?  It’s Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury.  Setsuna-san?”  There was no answer.  Usagi and Ami approached the Gates of Time and noticed that the doors were slightly open. 
     “Sailor Pluto is missing and the Time Gates are open,” Ami noted.  “That must be what’s causing the time portals to open.” 
     “In that case, we need to find Sailor Pluto as soon as possible,” Usagi said urgently.  “The longer she is gone from her post, the worse things will get.  Without the Guardian of Time, I don’t know what will happen to Time, but I have an awful feeling that we don’t want to find out.  Mercury, will you please try scanning the area to see if you can find out how long Setsuna-san has been gone?” 
     “Certainly,” Ami said, activating her visor and mini-computer.  After a few seconds, she answered, “I would say about a week, and that fits with the appearance of the first time portal, and the appearance of Lady Catherine.” 
     “Let’s go find the others and tell them what’s happened,” Usagi said.  “We’re going to need all the help we can get.  And we have to get me out of the hospital, the younger me, I mean.” 
     “Right,” Ami agreed.  She and Usagi joined hands again and teleported back to the apartment. 
     The Gates of Time burst open and a shadowy figure stepped out with an evil grin on his face. 
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That’s it for the first chapter!  I would really appreciate it if you would tell me if you love it or hate it!  E-mail me at runnerup2001@netscape.net!!  I really want to hear from you!  Thank you to all of my wonderful friends and especially to those that e-mail me!  And for Yui-chan, everything will be all right, we’ll watch over each other and pick up the pieces if anything breaks.  It’s the Summer of George!  Ja ne! 
~Chichiri 
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